Birch



3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

`W. BIRCH. APPARATUS PoR sTRBTeHINe wovEN FABRICS. No. 349,139.

Patented Sept. 14, 1886.

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(N Model.) 3 sheets-sheet 2. W BIRCH APPARATUS FOR STRETGHING WOVENFABRIGS.

Patented Sept. 14, 1886.

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W. BIRCH. u e APPARATUS POR STRBTCHING WOVEN FABRICS.

No. 349,139. Patented Sept. 14., 1886.

FIG 8.

FIG:

i UNITED STATES NPATENT OEEICE,

WILLIAM` BIRCH, or EEo'UC-HTON, NEAR MANCHESTER., COUNTY or LAN-cAs'rEE, ENGLAND.

APPARATUSr FORSTRETCHING WOVEN FABRICS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 349,139, datedSeptember 14, 1886.

Application fled December 30, 1885. Serial No. 187,191.

(No model.) Patented in England March 16, 1885, No. 3,360, and in FranceDecember 15, 1885, No. 172,938.

To all whom, it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM BIRCH, a subject of the Queen of GreatBritain andlreland, and residing at Broughton, near Manchester,

Lancaster county, England, have invented an Improved Apparatus forStretching Woven Fabrics, (for which I have obtained a British patent,No. 3,360, dated March 16, 1885,) of which the following is aspecification.

Io The main object of my invention is to so construct rollers forexpanding or stretching woven fabrics to a greater width from selvage toselvage that there will be no uneven drag or pull and this object Iattain by combining with transverse axles a number of rings or disks,loose on the axle, to form stretchingcones, so that each section of theconical rollers thus formed can revolve separately and independentlyandtravel at the same surface- 2o speed as the cloth, as more fullydescribed hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of my improvedstretching apparatus, and Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same,

V certain portions of both figures being shown in section and otherparts broken away for the more clear illustration of the invention; andFigs. 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are views drawn to enlarged scales of differentparts of the apparatus, as more particularly referred to hereinafter.

In the devices heretofore constructed for stretching fabrics conicalrollers have been used, but in such case, so far as I am aware, 3 5 eachconical roller has been solid, or, if made in sections, has beenconstructed to have all the sections revolve together at the samesurface-speed. As the surface-speed of the outer' or larger portion ofthe cones in such case is Io necessarily greater than 'that of thesmaller portions, the tendency is to move along the selvages Inorerapidly than the center portion, and so produce an uneven drag upon thecloth.

I construct the conical stretching-rollers A A of a number ofindependent conical disks or sections, a a, each loosely Inounted upon acentral shaft or axis, B B', so that each section of the conical rollersthus formed can rotate 5o independently. The two shafts B B are mountedto turn in bearings in brackets b at their outer ends, while at their,Inner ends they are supported in a central bracket, D',

by the central curved bracket, b', so that the 6ol two shafts B B can beset or inclined at any desired angle to each other. It will be seen,therefore, that as the cloth passes over the rollers each section a ofthe cones can revolve at a different speed, so that the surface-speed ofthe whole length of both cones can correspond with the passage of thecloth, and as these sections revolve upon axes placed at angles more orless removed from right angles to the passage of the cloth, butinclining out- 7C ward, it follows that the point of delivery of eachsection ywill be farther removed from the center line of the cloth thanthe point where it received the latter. As the conical sections arevolve, therefore,with the pull of the cloth, 7 5

they will have the effect of expanding or stretching the latter equally,or nearly so, over the whole surface from the center to the selvages.

TheA amount of stretch given to the cloth can 8o be varied by alteringthe angles of convergence of the two axes B B', and this I prefer toaccomplish by adjustment of the central bracket, b. This curv ed bracketis mounted on a horizontal pivot, g, carried by the cross-bar q, and thebracket is connected by a link, h', to a bent lever, 71., which is keyedto a horizontal shaft, i. rIhis shaft is mounted in suitable bearings inthe bar q, and carries at its outer end an arm, 7.1, Fig. 3, on which isformed a 9o curved rack engaging with a worm, Z. This worm forms part ofa short shaft provided with a hand-wheel, m, so that by turning thelatter the shaft t' can throw the curved arm It upward or downward, tocorrespondingly raise or lower the bracket b on its pivot g and give therequired inclination to the axes of the sectional conical rollers.

- The construction of the spherical heads d of the shafts B B is shownon enlarged scale in roo A between them for the reception of a numberFigs. 7 and 8. On the end of each shaft is screwed a flanged nut, f, andover this nut is fitted a loose cap or collar, d, leaving a cavity ofanti-friction balls, fr. The cap is held in place by a screw-nut, f'".

If preferred, a leather or other washer, y, Fig. 7, may be placedbetween the caps (l of the two shafts B B. I prefer to mount the shaftsB B in their bearings so that they are free to turn more or less withthe sections or disks a.

To prevent the cloth from bagging when it is supported between the innerends of the two conical rollers, I fix at the top of the ring e on thebracket a curved bearing-piece, p, Figs. 1, 5, and 6. A guide-roller, n,for the cloth is supported in two brackets, o, Figs. l, 2, and 4, on thebar or rail q, which supports the entire apparatus, and which is adaptedto be bolted or otherwise secured to the frame of the machine to whichthe apparatus is to be applied.

The peripheries of thesections a of the rollers may be groovedcircumferentially, as shown at the right-hand side of Figs. l and 2, orthey may be corrugated or roughened or provided with pins, to give thema firm hold of the cloth.

I claim as my invention- 1. The herein described apparatus forstretching cloth, consisting` of inclined axes.

carrying conical rollers in sections, free to tu rn independently on thesaid axes, substantially as set forth.

2. The herein-described cloth-stretching apparatus, comprising inclinedaxes carrying rollers in independent sections, free to turn ou the axes,jointed bearings for the outer ends of the axes, a movable bracket atthe inner ends of the latter, and devices, substantially as set forth,for adjusting the bracket, to give different inclinations to the axes,all substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of the inclined axes carrying sectionalstretching-rollers, and bcarin for the outer ends of the axes, with acentrallypivoted bracket supporting the inner ends of the axes, a shaft,z', carrying an arm, 7l., a link connecting the arm to the bracket, anddevices, substantially as set forth, for turning said shaft, allsubstantially as specied.

4. The combination, substantially as described, of the inclined axescarrying sectional stretchingrollers having heads d with intermediateanti-friction rollers, an adj ustable bracket for the said heads,anddevices,substau tially as set forth, for adjusting the bracket.

In testimony whereofI have signed luy naine to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

' \VILLIAM BIRCH.

lVitnesses:

GEORGE Darius, CHARLEs H. DAYIEs.

